Single Captain
by Hert of Gold
Summary: AU: March 1939. Captain Von Trapp grieves for his late wife Maria while around him the Nazis consolidate their control over his beloved Austria. Will he find new love in history's age of hatred? Or will the Third Reich destroy him and all of his dreams?
1. I

'Excuse me mister – um, do you speak English?'

'Eh? Ah...yes. A little. How can I be of help?'

'I'd like to send my sister back home in the States a postcard, but one's prettier than another and I just can't make up my mind on which to choose...I couldn't help wondering what a Salzburger himself would suggest.'

Georg nodded at the girl who stood expectantly beside him and set down his parcel, crossing to the wall where he fingered the postcards on the rack.

'Well, let's see...there's the Hohensalzburg, that's the fortress up on the top of the mountain...then there are the gardens of Hellbrunn, very pretty...hmm...if you're musical, here's a nice one of the house in which Mozart was born, but...ah, yes...my personal choice would be this one of Mellweg – it's a mountain in the Salzkammergut. Not strictly in Salzburg, no, but far more beautiful than anything you could find in this city. A postcard doesn't do it justice.' He handed the card over to the girl; she smiled as she turned it over in her hands.

'It _is_ beautiful,' she said. 'How could I get out there myself, to see it?'

'You might be able to get a guide to take you there, I suppose,' Georg mused. He considered the girl. She was young, perhaps in her late twenties, and certainly pretty in her appearance. 'Are you travelling on your own?'

'Uh-huh. I came here to see where my father grew up, before he moved out to America...I'm of Austrian ancestry, you see.'

'Is that so? And how do you find the country?'

'Oh, most delightful...the air is so fresh, the people so pleasant...' The girl smiled attractively at Georg, combing a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear. 'Now if I could only see the...um, Salzkammergut, did you say? Then I think my trip would be quite complete.'

Georg thought for a moment, glancing back at the brown paper package on the counter beside him.

'Well, miss, erm...ah, I'm sorry, I don't believe we've introduced ourselves to one another.'

'Ziegler,' the girl said as she extended a gloved hand, still smiling. 'Miss Scarlett Ziegler.'

'Captain Georg Von Trapp,' he replied, taking her hand and shaking it. He did not fail to detect the flash of interest that crossed her face as he did so. 'Now, Miss Ziegler, once I have sent this parcel, I will be driving back to my residence in Aigen...if you were interested in accompanying me – that is, if you were not otherwise engaged – I could perhaps make a small detour, and show you the Salzkammergut myself...?' Georg let the question hang in the air, but the girl was quick to answer, clapping her hands together in delight.

'Oh, that would be capital, absolutely capital,' she gushed. 'I would be _most _obliged to you, Captain. But, oh, I'd better pay for this postcard...I won't be a moment, I promise!' Scarlett counted out a few coins onto the palm of her hand as Georg turned back to his parcel, checking the string that held the brown paper package together. His heart thudded in his chest, faster than usual. Taking the parcel up in his hands, he joined the small queue at the counter. A hand touched his arm, and there was Scarlett, smiling prettily beneath the brim of her hat.

'I'll just wait outside, then, Captain,' she said. 'See you in a moment.' Georg watched as she made for the door of the post office, a thought occurring to him.

'Miss Ziegler...are you not going to write your postcard? I have a pen if you need one.' Scarlett looked back over her shoulder and shook her head, laughing.

'It's alright,' she said. 'I thought I'd wait until after our little trip to the mountains together – otherwise, for all I know, I might be leaving the most exciting part of my holiday out!' As she opened the door and stepped outside, Georg could not help but run his eyes over her fine figure – she was a beautiful woman, there was no denying that much. With a sudden pang of something indescribable – was it desire? Guilt? Both at once? - Georg touched the small gold band on his finger. It had been twelve long months. They had seemed to span an eternity of emptiness, a millennium of grief...no, could it really have only been a single year? But yes, there was no doubt about it – it was March 1939 alright, and it had been only March previous that the Von Trapp family had made their escape across the mountains into Switzerland. And yet so much had happened since. Georg could not have foreseen his return to Eigen so soon after he had fled from the place; he could not have foreseen that he would be going anywhere without the company of his beloved Maria. Once again, the course of Georg's life had been changed forever, but even as he had grieved in solitude he had perceived that greater, more terrible events were afoot, sweeping up the lives of millions in their passage. Whole worlds were being destroyed, and new ones were being called into existence – Austria itself was Austria no longer, transformed almost beyond recognition. Georg glanced up at the post office wall. A grim face glowered back at him, its mouth set in a frown under its small dark moustache.

'Heil Hitler!' Georg turned back to the counter, grunting by way of reply as he handed his parcel over to the saluting postmaster. _I should never have come back_, he thought. _Not to this, not for anything. _He passed a handful of Reichsmarks over the desk, shifting from foot to foot with impatient irritation while waiting for his change. Receiving it, he headed for the door. Through the glass he could see Scarlett waiting outside, looking up at the Swastika banners that fluttered from the buildings lining the street. _Her father had the right idea_, Georg found himself thinking. _After all, better to plant a little piece of Austria in the soil of a new home than to sow the soil of Austria itself with salt. _

'Heil Hitler!' A small man was holding the post office door open for Georg, a package held under one arm. Georg looked him up and down in disgust.

'Hitler? Hitler be damned,' he growled, leaving the man blinking in consternation as he swept past and out onto the street. Scarlett beamed at the sight of him; Georg gave a small nod and pulled from his jacket pocket the keys to his motorcar. 'Miss Ziegler. My apologies for keeping you waiting...shall we?'


	2. II

Georg and Scarlett spent the best part of the day in the Salzkammergut, wandering together among the scented pine trees and over grassy knolls carpeted with a sea of tiny white flowers - the edelweiss. Scarlett seemed to exult in the freedom of the mountains, laughing as she chased after startled marmots and splashing Georg with water from the little brooks the two would come across as they walked.

'Captain, this is simply divine!' she cried as she sat down under the shade of a fir tree, plucking a little blue flower from the ground and beginning to pick at its petals. 'Is it always this beautiful?'

'At all times of the year, Miss Ziegler. Each season reveals something new to love and to cherish about the Salzkammergut. That flower you are holding there, for instance, is a spring gentian – it blossoms now in March, but will be gone by the summer. Its place will be taken by the alpine gentian which is, if anything, even prettier. And that there,' – he pointed to a few yards from where Scarlett sat – 'is a white crocus, which, beautiful as it is, is around for an even shorter span. Although it must have flowered only days ago, it will be gone by next month.'

'But, Captain Von Trapp, that flower is plainly _violet_!'

'Precisely so. Some white crocuses are, although of course those are harder to find.'

'Then I am happy to see one!' Scarlett smiled, before stretching her arms in a yawn. 'Captain, won't you sit down a while? I'm suddenly really quite tired.' Georg nodded and settled himself beside her on the grass, gazing up at the snow-capped mountains that surrounded them. The soft tinkling of cow bells sounded in the distance, while sweet strains of birdsong could be heard from the trees closer by.

'Edelweiss, edelweiss...ev'ry morning you greet me...small and white, clean and bright...you look happy to meet me...'

Georg sung quietly, his hand feeling in the turf beside him for the little white flower. Scarlett rested her head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.

'Captain,' she breathed. 'Thank you. Thank you for showing me this.' Georg did not respond. He was thinking of Maria – rarest among all flowers, and most beautiful of all. But she had blossomed upon the earth for the shortest period, and with her death the springtime that she had brought into the Captain's life had also vanished. Darker, wintry days had come, for him, for his family, and for all of Austria. _Still_, thought Georg. _You could almost imagine that none of it – Hitler, the Nazi party, the soldiers, the salutes, the swastikas – you could almost imagine that none of it existed, sitting up here in the mountains, among the flowers and the birds, listening to the sound of the brook and inhaling the purest air on all God's earth_. _In a way, you could almost feel happy_.

Georg felt a hand in his, and he turned his head to look at Scarlett. Her face was bathed by the golden rays of the now setting sun, her green eyes sparkling and her small red lips parted expectantly. Unbidden, a thought entered his head; before it had time to work itself out fully, it was out of his mouth.

'Miss Ziegler – would you care to join me for dinner tonight?' Startled by his own forwardness, Georg swiftly began to mumble a qualification. 'That is, if you are not expected elsewhere, of course. I...I wouldn't want to keep you from anybody else who might be due the pleasure of your company...and indeed, it is getting quite late, and...'

'Captain,' Scarlett replied, taking both his hands now and looking into his eyes earnestly. 'I would _love_ to join you for dinner.'

'Ah,' said Georg. 'Good. Yes. I think that would be very pleasant.' He gave a quick smile before standing, holding out his hand for Scarlett to take and helping her to her feet. 'Come then, we must get back to the car before we lose the light.'

On the way down the small track that led back to Salzburg, Georg paused while Scarlett walked on ahead, turning to look back at the mountains, now black against the dying sun. As velvety night silently enveloped the Salzkammergut, a lonely figure could be seen moving high on a hill, a goatherd guiding his flock back home. Watching, Georg once again began to sing softly to himself, a single tear rolling down his cheek and dropping among the tiny white flowers at his feet.

'Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow...bloom and grow forever...edelweiss, edelweiss...bless my homeland forever...'


End file.
